Starting with a total of twenty three members, one of the a former Julliard Student from the New York area named Larry Blackmon, the funk R&B group would go through many changes but come out on top as one of the leading all time R&B groups of the era. While some members of the original cast

Cameo

Hey lady what you say, how about some fun today.

The Big Apple

Starting with a total of twenty three members, one of the a former Julliard Student from the New York area named Larry Blackmon, the funk R&B group would go through many changes but come out on top as one of the leading all time R&B groups of the era. While some members of the original cast still play together during the present, others have gone on to join many other musical troupes such as Outkast. Still playing their music of the present, Cameo has a solid fan base that still drives their music across the United States as one of the all time favorite R&B music groups.

Beginnings

Starting their careers out as the New York City Players, the twenty three member ensemble began playing in clubs and music venues across New York City in the early 1970’s. The group would eventually produce of the Casablanca Records label in early of 1976, which prompted a name change to Cameo due to the already existing band The Ohio Players that had threatened to sue for copy write violations.

Although their first methods and styles were based upon the deep funk grooves of the decade, their music would later afford them top chartings by a slight change that brought their music to the dance floors of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. The group released their first album called Cardiac Arrest in the late 1970’s and would have many more to follow rather quickly.

Through the release of their album Cameosis in 1980, the group began to gain momentum with songs such as Shake Your Pants. A year later, a change in their style released the album Knights of the Sound Table, which featured more dance related music for the new wave of music that would be of the early 1980’s. However, this style had some of the group members re thinking exactly what type of music they wanted to be known for.

The twenty three member group was scaled back to only four members of which there were Larry Blackmon, Tomi Jenkins, Nathan Leftenant, and Charles Singleton. The quartet decided it was also time for a change of scenery and moved its headquarters to the ever growing city of Atlanta, Georgia where they started their own record label Atlanta Artists.

Style Changes

The early 1980’s ushered in many changes to the country, and music was not left out of these changes. A new style where musicians were experimenting with digital tracking, keyboard synthesizers, and electronic drums were becoming a sweeping new manner for many musicians of the day. The funk industry was no different and Cameo released their first album called Style, which was the first album to show their new learned methods and talents.

This began to catch on at the many R&B clubs scattered across the country and began to give more momentum to the group. Their first major airwave breakthrough came with the single Word Up, which busted onto the charts all over the country. The band would follow suit with the other singles Candy and Back and Forth, which would also go on to be major chart busters in the later 1980’s. However, with success always follows some down time and their next few albums did not resonate with pop culture so well although still some what popular in the R&B genre.

Career Ends

Although Cameo still continued to release many albums during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the groups popularity would pretty much decline and never truly pull back. The group had a large following and still makes some guest appearances. Some of their music may be available as a free music download or at minimum an internet screening.

Did You Know

• The large group originally started with thirteen members.

• Some of their singles have been used on hit television shows such as The Simpsons and Everybody Hates Chris.

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